I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: December 4, 2019] A Very She & Him Christmas Party

S. and I have a large Christmas album collection.  It’s fun to add a CD a year or so, especially when they are new and interesting.

We’ve enjoyed the two Christmas CDs from She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward).  So when it was announced that they’d be coming to Philadelphia (actually starting their mini-tour here), I got tickets right away.

We went in with expectations of a sweet Christmas experience.  And that’s what we got.

They played about 30 songs and the biggest surprise for both of us was just how long the show was.  I assumed 75 minute, but it wound up being almost and hour and 45 minutes.  That’s the holiday spirit!

The stage was set beautifully when we walked in, with red and green lights.  The whole stage covered in trees and presents (I assume the presents are covering amps, which is pretty clever).  There was also a projection screen in the back.

The band was a quintet: Danny Frankel on drums, Francisco Ojeda (absolutely fantastic) on bass.  There was a keyboardist who was very prominent but whose name I missed.  There were also two backup singers, introduced as Sarah and Jessica.

And of course M. Ward on his hollow-body guitar, creating a cool old-fashioned surf twang and Zooey Deschanel singing and taking all kinds of fun percussion instruments out of the present in front of her.

I would have said that Zooey seemed nervous (I guess she does have stage fright), But i was surprised at how stiff she seemed given that she is a professional actor and all.  She loosened up after a few songs and started making jokes, but this isn’t the wacky-Zooey show, it’s a  Christmas show, and that’s what we were there for.

They started with “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” and it sounded just like I imagined–except that Zooey’s voice sounded better than I thought it would (I was’t sure how well she’d translate live, but it worked).  She claimed to have just gotten over a cold, although I didn’t think she sounded like it.

The screen lit up with a Christmas scene.  It turned out that Zooey was in charge of the PowerpoInt slide show of pictures.  However, it was not only not in the order of the songs–she jumped around a few times trying to find the right image–but there seemed to be images that either didn’t belong (a menorah– but not Hanukkah songs were played).  Eventually she just gave up on it, which was kind of a shame as the images that she did project were fun.

There was an air of unpreparedness (or first night jitters) about the whole thing.  And yet that also seemed to be appropriately holiday-like as well

They played some delightful Christmas songs.   On their 2 Christmas albums there’s a total of 24 songs.  They did 20 songs tonight with Zoeey singing lead on the first bunch and then M. Ward taking lead on “Christmas Waltz.”

I was having a great time with all the traditional songs (although I don’t really know Bruce Cockburn’s “Coldest Night”).  But I was really excited when they played “Mele Kalikimaka“–one of my favorite unconventional Christmas songs.  The venue sounded pretty strict about cameras and S. warned me not to get us kicked out.  But a bunch of people around us were waving their phones around, so I busted my camera out for a few seconds of that song.

By now everyone was warmed up and there was some dancing to “The Man with the Bag.”  The band sounded great with some extra special keyboard solos.  Zooey also mentioned that she has family in the Philadelphia area, so that’s why they started the tour here.

She & Him play the best version of “Blue Christmas” that I’m aware of–it’s not maudlin the way Elvis’ is.  It’s just very pretty.  In fact, I like their versions of a lot of these songs better than most.  They are simple and non-flashy, but they are always tasteful and pretty.  I’m not a huge fan of 50’s style rock n roll, so this doesn’t seem like it would work for me, but I really enjoyed it.

Deschanel introduced “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” by turning to the audience and saying, “Now, let’s talk about consent.”  I ‘ve alwys liked thier version of the song because they switch the gender roles. After the song she wondered if it was it less creepy if the woman is singing the creepy parts.  I think she decided it wasn’t but that she still loved the song.

About half way through the set, Zooey was given a ukulele for “Little Saint Nick.”  That was a nice change of pace.  In the middle of the song a guy came out on stage and stood there for a while doing nothing.  Then he did the low voice part (I’ve no idea what he says in the song) and walked off.  That guy turned out to be on Property Brothers and is her current boyfriend.  I guess people were excited by that, but I had no idea who he was.

Ward sang “Run, Run Rudolph…” and I don’t mean to make it sound like it has anything to do with him, but i really dislike this song.  It’s probably my least favorite Christmas song, and I don’t really know why.

After a fun version of “Sleigh Ride,” Zoeey declared an intermission–but not for you guys.

This is an intermission for us.  It was also a time to meet the most festively dressed people at the show.  Pete Lee and the Property Brother came back out and brought out a half a dozen or so people dressed festively.  We voted on our favorites and they were given some merch.

After the intermission, they switched from Christmas songs to some classics (just like at the Brian Wilson show).  This also explains why the show was more than an hour long.

They played seven songs in this section.  Three were covers.  There was also an M. Ward song and three songs from their early releases (I didn’t really recognize them).  Their version of “God Only Knows” was much much better than Brian Wilson’s when we saw him, but it still didn’t quite reach the levels of power it could have.

Then, before the encore, they played “All I Want for Christmas is You” and left the stage.

There were no “children’s” Christmas songs like “Frosty” or “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and I think that’s for the best.  It wasn’t mean to be treacly, more nostalgic.

For the encore they started with some more covers.  They played a Joni Mitchell song, but amazingly, not “The River.”  I was very intrigued by their choice of “You Turn Me On, I’m a Radio.”  By this time in the show all phones were out so I grabbed a couple more videos.

Then they returned to Christmas to end the show with “Silent Night” (it was very weird that people lit their phone lights like this was a favorite encore ballad).

They ended the set with a fantastic mash up.  It started with the solemn “Joy to the World” but slowly morphed into the bouncing Three Dog Night song of the same title.  It was a really fun way to end the night–and there were people dancing all over the place by then.

I read a review that said they seemed off.  I’ve never seen them before so I can’t comment.

But it was all pretty much what we wanted.  We went in with low expectations–not to slag them at all, I just didn’t expect to be blown away.  I expected to a fun concert and that’s just what is was.  Like a warm family party with some great singers along for the ride.

SETLIST

1. ∧ The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) (Mel Tormé cover)
2. ¢ Happy Holiday (Irving Berlin cover)
3. ∧ Christmas Day (The Beach Boys cover) 
4. ¢ A Marshmallow World (Bing Crosby cover)
5. ∧ The Christmas Waltz (Frank Sinatra cover) 
6. ∧ Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane cover) 
7. ¢ The Coldest Night of the Year (Bruce Cockburn cover)
8. ¢ Mele Kalikimaka (Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters cover)
9. ¢ Winter Wonderland (Richard Himber & His Orchestra cover)
10. ¢ Christmas Memories (Frank Sinatra cover)
11. ¢ (Everybody’s Waitin’ for) The Man With the Bag (Kay Starr cover)
12. ∧ Blue Christmas (Doye O’Dell cover)
13. ∧ Baby, It’s Cold Outside (Frank Loesser cover)
14. ∧ I’ll Be Home for Christmas (If Only in My Dreams) (Bing Crosby cover)
15. ∧ Christmas Wish (NRBQ cover)
16. ∧ Little Saint Nick (The Beach Boys cover)
17. ∧ Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree (Brenda Lee cover)
18. ¢ Run Rudolph Run (Chuck Berry cover)
19. ∧ Sleigh Ride (Leroy Anderson cover)
    (followed by costume contest)
20. I Can Hear Music (The Ronettes cover)
21. Magic Trick (M. Ward song)
22. Stay Awhile (Dusty Springfield cover)
23. God Only Knows (The Beach Boys cover)
24. I Was Made for You vol 1
25. In the Sun vol. 2
26. Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? vol. 1
27. ¢ All I Want for Christmas is You (Mariah Carey cover)
    Encore:
28. You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me (The Miracles cover)
29. You Turn Me On, I’m a Radio (Joni Mitchell cover)
30. Silent Night (Joseph Mohr & Franz Gruber cover)
31. Joy to the World (Lowell Mason cover) (Combination of sacred “Joy to the World” and Three Dog Night’s composition; choruses only)

∧ A Very She and Him Christmas (2011)  from that album, no Silver Bells [a bit of a surprise]
¢ Christmas Party (2016) from this album no Let It Snow [also a surprise], Must Be Santa [wouldn’t quite have fit], and Christmas Don’t Be Late [no loss].